Wash and wear shirt



Jan. 14, 1969 STEBLEY 3,421,159

WASH AND WEAR SHIRT Filed April 24, 1967 5 I] '7 Y F1614 k [E 1 INVENTOR FRANK E. STEBLEY 60 BY 16m ATTORNEY FIGS United States Patent 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wash and wear shirt including a shirt body and sleeves constructed of cotton content fabric, and collar and cuffs constructed of all-synthetic fabric.

Background of the invention This invention relates to wash and wear shirts, more particularly, to shirts constructed of mixed cotton content fabric and all-synthetic fabric.

Cotton content fabrics are desirably employed in shirt construction, for comfort, warmth, breathing, opacity, and retention in place at the midriff. These considerations render cotton content fabrics desirable for making wash and W681 shirts, also referred to as permanent press, crease resistant, and no-iron shirts.

Manufacture of wash and wear shirts involves chemical and heat treatment to impart the desired crease resistance. The treatment of high cotton content fabrics requires high chemical loading and tends to weaken the cotton fibers, and the fabrics therefore frequently are woven of mixed cotton and synthetic fibers.

Cotton fibers have a greater tendency than synthetic fibers to absorb soil and moisture, and cotton fibers require stringent laundering. However, only mild cleansing is recommended for wash and wear shirts, in order to retain the permanent press or set. Consequently, special treatment is needed to remove the deep-set soiling of the high wear portions of the shirt, namely, the collar and cuffs. Also, the weakening of the cotton fibers resulting from the chemical and heat treatment causes the collar and cuffs to wear more rapidly.

Wash and wear shirts are made of all-synthetic fabrics, and they resist soiling, are readily cleansed with mild treatment, and are durable. However, the synthetic fabrics are less comfortable than cotton content fabrics, conduct heat more readily, have poorer breathing qualities, have greater transparency, and tend to pull out at the midriff.

Summary of the invention The invention provides a wash and wear shirt which comprises a shirt body and an attached collar, the body being constructed of woven fabric having a minimum cotton content of about 20%, and the collar being constructed of all-synthetic woven fabric. Long sleeve shirts having attached cuffs also are provided with cuffs constructed of all-synthetic fabric. Preferably, the shirt body and sleeves are constructed of fabric containing about 20-80% cotton, and the balance of the fabric is synthetic resin.

The new shirt of the invention combines the fabrics best suited for their respective locations. The shirt affords maximum comfort and service life while requiring minimum care. The cotton content fabric employed for the shirt body and sleeves is comfortable, warm, breathing, and relatively opaque. The midriff is held in place without pulling out at the waistband. The synthetic fabric employed for the collar and cuffs is resistant to soiling, readily cleansed, and wear resistant. The shirt requires 3,421,159 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 ICC only mild cleansing, and the permanent press characteristics are retained. Fraying is reduced, owing to the wear resistance of the collar and cuffs, thus extending the life of the shirt.

Brief description of the drawings The attached drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the wash and wear shirt of the invention accomplishing the foregoing and other objects, advantages and functions. In the drawings, like parts are identified by like reference symbols in each of'the views, and;

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a wash and wear shirt according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the shirt collar and attached shirt body, as seen from inside of the shirt with the collar extended;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged cross sectional view of the collar and body, taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, the parts being spread apart from their normal positions for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the shirt cuff and attached sleeve as seen from the inside of the sleeve; and

FIG. 5 is a further enlarged cross sectional view of the cuff and sleeve, taken on line 55 of FIG. 4, the parts being spread apart for clarity of illustration.

Description 0) the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, a wash and wear shirt 10 represents a preferred embodiment of the invention. The shirt includes a body 12 having a shoulder section 14, a pocket 16 having an upper edge portion 18, an attached collar 20, long sleeves 22, and attached cuffs 24. The shirt components may be assembled in any suitable conventional manner. FIGS. 2-5 are illustrative of the attachment of the collar to the shirt body and of the attachment of the cuffs to the sleeves.

The shirt body 12 and the sleeves 22 are constructed of woven fabric having a minimum cotton content of about 20% (by Weight), and it is presently preferred that the cotton content of the fabric be about 20-80%. The balance of the body and sleeve fabrics is synthetic resin.

The fabric cotton content may be cotton fiber of any of the well known classes, such as combed, mercerized, pima, batiste, and so forth. The content of synthetic resin, more technically identified as synthetic thermoplastic resin, may be any synthetic fiber suitable for woven garment fabrics, and combinations thereof. Polyester fibers, such as Dacron and Tetoron, nylon fiber, and combinations thereof are preferred. An exemplary preferred fiber combination for the shirt body and sleeves is 35% cotton fiber and 65% polyester fiber.

It is also contemplated that the cotton content fabric may include cotton fibers chemically combined with synthetic resin. Thus, for example, the fabric may include cotton reacted with vinyl and vinylidene plastic materials in a bath under gamma radiation, whereby plastic molecules are grafted to the cotton cellulose molecules, as re cently reported (Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1967, section 1, pages 1 and 2). The resulting fabric reportedly possesses advantageous wash and wear, durability and other properties.

The collar 20 and the cuffs 24 are constructed of synthetic woven fabric. The synthetic fiber is as described above, polyester and nylon fibers, and combinations thereof, being preferred. The synthetic resin employed in the collar and cuffs may be the same as or different than the synthetic resin employed in the body and sleeves.

While a long sleeve shirt has been selected for purposes of illustration, the invention is also applicable to short sleeve shirts. In this case, the collar is constructed of allsynthetic fabric as for long sleeve shirts, and the cuffs are absent.

The illustrative pocket 16 is constructed of the same cotton content fabric as used for the body 12 and the sleeves 22. Alternatively, the upper edge portion 1-8 of the pocket may be constructed of all-synthetic fabric as employed in the collar and cuffs. Such construction is advantageous where the pocket is used frequently.

In making the wash and wear shirt in a preferred manner according to present practice, the fabric for the cotton content parts is chemically treated by a conventional process for imparting permanent press characteristics, assembled to provide the shirt body, pocket and sleeve, and pressed at a temperature or followed by baking at a temperature sufiicient to set the press in the garment. The all-synthetic fabric parts are assembled and pressed at a temperature sufficient to soften the fibers and impart a set thereto upon cooling, the temperature depending on the characteristics of the synthetic fiber. Then, the collar and cuffs are joined to the body and sleeves, and finishing operations are performed. Where an all-synthetic fabric edge portion 18 is provided on the pocket 16, the pocket is processed and assembled in a similar manner, and then fastened to the shirt body.

In an exemplary manner of manufacture, the cotton content fabric for the body 12 and sleeves 22 is subjected to a wet treatment with synthetic resin and a curing agent, catalyst, or reactant in a conventional manner and then dried. The fabric is cut, sewn and pressed, and thereafter baked at an elevated temperature to cure the resin and thereby set the press in the garment. Alternatively, other known methods may be employed for imparting a permanent press.

The upper end of the two-ply shoulder section 14 may be edged with an over-locking stitch seam 26, as illustrated in FIG. 3, or the end may be finished in other suitable ways. Similarly, the ends of the sleeves 22 may be finished in a suitable manner, such as with the over-locking stitch seam 28 illustrated in FIG. 5. The stitching is done before the heat treatment which sets the permanent press.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the illustrative collar includes a collar tab or folding portion 30 and an attached neckband 32. A buttonhole 34 is provided in the neckband. Alternatively, the collar may be an integral or one-section construction of tab and neckband.

The collar tab 30 includes a facing outer ply 34, a back outer ply 36, and an inner or liner ply 38. Alternatively, more than one inner ply may be provided, or the inner ply may be omitted. The fabric of the outer plies 34 and 36 is closely woven of relatively fine synthetic fiber strands. The fabric of the inner ply 38 is more coarsely or openly woven of relatively coarse synthetic fiber strands, for stiffening or bodying the collar. The plies are joined together adjacent one end by a single stitch seam 40, and then are reversed and joined at the same end by a single stitch seam 42. The collar tab then may be pressed.

The neckband 32 includes a facing outer ply 44, a back outer ply 46, and an inner or liner ply 48. The fabrics employed for the neckband plies are like the fabrics of the corresponding collar tab plies, and similarly, the inner ply may be omitted. The ends of the facing outer ply and the inner ply of the neckband are joined together by single stitch seams 50. The ends of the several plies are folded inwardly and joined to the free edges of the collar tab 30 and to each other by a single stitch seam 52 around the neckband. The collar 20 with the buttonhole 34 finished then is finish pressed at the required temperature, after which it may be fastened to the shirt body 12,

The illustrative cuffs 24 are of the so-called convertible type, including buttonholes 54 receiving buttons or cuff links, and buttons 56. Alternatively, conventional buttoned or French cuffs may be provided.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, each cuff 24 includes an external outer ply 58, an internal outer ply 60, and an inner or liner ply 62. The fabric of the outer plies 58 and 60 is closely woven of relatively fine synthetic fiber strands. The fabric of the inner ply 62 is more coarsely or openly Woven of relatively coarse synthetic fiber strands, for stiffening or bodying the cuff. The external outer ply 58 and the inner ply 62 are joined together at their ends by single stitch seams 64. The ends of the several plies are folded inwardly and joined together by a single stitch seam 66 around the cuff. The cuffs with buttonholes 54 finished are finish pressed at the required temperature, after which the cuffs may be fastened to the sleeves 22.

In making a shirt having a soft collar and cuffs, the collar and cuffs are not of heated sufficiently to impart a set to the synthetic fibers on cooling, but are merely pressed at a lower temperature. Also, inner plies such as the inner plies 38, 48, and 62 of the collar and cuffs may be omitted.

The shirt components thus selectively made for the most desirable characteristics in the several locations are assembled into the completed shirt 10. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper end of the shoulder section 14 is inserted between the lower ends of the neckband facing and back outer plies 44 and 46, and the neckband plies are joined to the shoulder section by a single stitch seam 68. Adjacent portions of the shirt body 12 are joined to the neckband in like manner.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the end of each sleeve 22 is inserted between the inner ends of the external and internal outer cuff plies 58 and 60, and the cuff plies are joined to the sleeve by a single stitch seam 70.

The shirt then is ready for applying the cuff buttons 56 and buttons 72 on the shirt body, touching up the garment, and labeling.

The invention thus provides a wash and wear shirt utilizing the respective cotton content and all-synthetic fabrics where their properties are most advantageous while avoiding their use where their properties are disadvantageous. The shirt is comfortable, soil resistant, easily washable, wear resistant and long-lasting.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, the invention is not limited to the illustrative details of composition, treatment, construction, and assembly of the parts, all of which may be varied in ways well known to the art. It is intended that such changes, modifications and variations be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wash and wear shirt which comprises a shirt body and an attached collar, said body being constructed of Woven fabric having a minimum cotton content of about 20% and having permanent press characteristics, and said collar being constructed of all synthetic resin woven fabric.

2. A shirt as defined in claim 1 wherein the cotton content of said body fabric is about 2080% and the balance of the fabric is synthetic resin.

3. A shirt as defined in claim 1 wherein said synthetic resin is selected from the group consisting of polyester and nylon.

4. A shirt as defined in claim 1 wherein said collar includes a pair of outer plies and an inner ply.

5. A wash and wear shirt which comprises a shirt body and sleeve, and attached collar and cuffs, said body and sleeves each being constructed of woven fabric having a minimum cotton content of about 20% and chemically treated to impart permanent press characteristics, and said collar and cuffs each being constructed of all-synthetic resin woven fabric.

6. A shirt as defined in claim 5 wherein the cotton content of each of said body and sleeve fabrics is about 20- and the balance of the fabric is synthetic resin.

5 6 7. A shirt as defined in claim 6 wherein said synthetic OTHER REFERENCES RS111 is Selected mm the grouP ns1sting of Polyester Textile Fibers Technical Information Bulletin, D-48,

and nylon.

8. A shirt as defined in claim 7 wherein said collar and February 1955 du Pom de Nemours &

cuffs each include a pair of outer plies and an inner ply. 5 RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR primary Examiner References Cited 5 CL UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,846,687 8/1958 Lippman 2-115 

